This invention relates to document retention in general, and more specifically to document storage and retrieval.
Individual documents are commonly retrievably stored in file folders designed to be removably installed in filing cabinets having one or more drawers slidably mounted therein, with each drawer having a laterally spaced pair of upper support rails for accommodating the individual file folders. FIG. 1 is a perspective view, taken from the right front, of a typical multiple drawer filing cabinet in which known document file folders are retrievably stored. As seen in this Fig., a multiple drawer file cabinet 10 (four drawers illustrated) of known mechanical construction has the usual top 12, bottom 13, sides 14, 15, and back 16. Four drawers 18-21 are slidably mounted in cabinet 10, each drawer 18-21 having a drawer pull 23 mounted on a front panel 25 thereof. A visible indicator device 27 is also mounted on the front panel 25 of each drawer 18-21. Indicator 27 may comprise any one of a number of known elements capable of providing a visible signal when activated.
Lowermost drawer 18 is shown in the opened position in order to provide a perspective view of the basic drawer structure and the manner in which a file folder is removably supported in a file drawer. As shown, drawer 18 is provided with a pair of upper support rails 28, 29, which serve the primary purpose of supporting individual file folders, such as file folder 30, in the drawer. Secondarily, rails 28, 29 may also provide structural rigidity for the drawer 18 itself. Drawer 18 also has a pair of lower rails 32, 33 (only one of which is visible in FIG. 1) which complete the horizontal structural elements. In a commonly used file cabinet structure, rails 28, 29, 32, and 33 may form an inner frame insert (along with vertically arranged frame members) which can be physically installed in a standard drawer. To complete the drawer structure, a back 34 is connected to the rails 28, 29, 32, 33. All file folders, such as folder 30, are removably supported by upper rails 28, 29 using horizontal support braces (described below) to which the folder 30 is mechanically secured. The mechanical structure of folder 30 and rails 28, 29 is conventional. The structure and arrangement of drawers 19-21 are identical to that of drawer 18.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a typical file folder 30. As seen in this Fig., file folder 30 is a document receptacle formed from a single sheet of suitable material (typically durable paper stock) folded about the longitudinal center. Each leaf 31, 32 of file folder 30 is provided with a mechanical brace 35, 36 each secured to the upper margin of the associated leaf 31, 32. Each brace 35, 36 is provided with a pair of downwardly opening channels, such as channels 37, 38 of brace 35, adjacent the opposite ends thereof and designed to receive the drawer support rails 28, 29 of the respective cabinet drawer when the file folder is installed in the drawer. Thus, the lateral spacing of channels 37, 38 of braces 35, 36 is chosen to match the lateral separation distance of drawer support rails 28, 29. In use, one or more documents are inserted into the folder space between leafs 31, 32 of the file folder 30, and the file folder 30 is installed in one of the cabinet drawers by manipulating the file folder 30 downward into the cabinet drawer until the channels 37, 38 are received by the support rails 28, 29. When the document is to be retrieved, the cabinet drawer is opened, the file folder 30 is either spread apart by the user and the desired document is removed from the folder 30, or the folder 30 itself is removed from the support rails 28, 29, spread apart, and the desired document is removed.
In order to provide some measure of security for a document storage and retrieval system of the type described above, various techniques have been introduced. One such technique uses computer controlled access to the individual file cabinet drawers. In a typical system of this type, the user enters a password and the system identifying code for the file folder or document being sought into a computer terminal connected to a system computer. If the password permits access to the system by the user, the system computer searches a system data base for the cabinet and drawer location of the item being sought and, if a match is found, signals the cabinet in which the item resides to illuminate the visible indicator device 27 on the drawer front of the drawer containing the file folder 30 in which the sought item is located and to unlock the drawer containing the sought item. The user is then permitted to open the drawer and search for the file folder. Once the file folder is located, the user can then extract the document sought. If the user disconnects any file folder brace from the support rails 28, 29 during this process, this event is detected by sensing circuitry in the cabinet and information regarding the identity of the disconnected file folder is transmitted back to the system computer.
Another security technique used either alone or in combination with the first technique described above employs a bar code reader mounted in each cabinet drawer in combination with individual bar code labels secured to the file folders. Whenever a file folder is removed from a drawer, the bar code reader reads the label and conveys the identity of the removed file folder to the system computer, which can time stamp the information for later analysis.
While the file cabinet/file folder arrangement described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 has been widely adopted for document storage and retrieval purposes, it poses document security risks which are inherent in the folder 30 design. Specifically, once a user has obtained access to a collection of file folders in an opened cabinet drawer, any document in any file folder can be easily removed by simply manually spreading the two file folder braces apart and extracting the contents of the file folder. During this process, the file folder can remain inside the drawer with the brace channels engaged with the support rails 28, 29. Consequently, neither of the two security techniques described above can detect unauthorized removal of a document from a file folder.